# Farting in a Tank **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676 "2007-06-27T20:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/41 "2007-06-29T03:43:02Z")
A few years of lurking the SDMB, and this was the thread that finally made me register. They don’t teach you this stuff in school, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/42 "2007-06-29T04:56:31Z")
I never was in a tank, but in a “buttoned up” underground bunker, you can still smell the farts that were let out during the last drill! The air you got has to last until the door opens, because the back blast from a missile launch is exceptionally toxic. Thankfully, anti-air craft launch areas were fairly wide open, and usually fairly breezy. Everyone knew who was prone to flatulence, and what had been served for lunch, in advance. Not that it did you any good. Everyone goes into the hole, when the siren goes off, including the Launching Area Cat. Tris ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/43 "2007-06-29T05:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Rysdad] Ever have the old Scrambled Eggs and Ham C-rat unit? It was nicknamed “Rat Fart.” It was “pre-farted” in the sense that it already smelled like a fart when you opened it. And some guys _ate it!_ [/QUOTE] I was in the Marine Corps with a fellow that would get sick from the sight of eggs and ham. When he was in Vietnam he was filling some sandbags and dug up a boot with a foot still in it. The foot looked exactly like eggs and ham. Prior to that, he told me, he had rather enjoyed the meal. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/44 "2007-06-29T06:57:48Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Actually, nitrogen itself is probably the primary nitrogenous combustion product. Bi-atomic elemental nitrogen is very stable, which is why so many explosive compounds contain nitrogen: It wants very much to get into that stable state, and so it will do so very energetically. Any ammonia smell is probably from unburned propellant, not from the end product, so a more efficient formulation would have less smell. [/QUOTE] Yer right. I was thinking oxidation, but forgot about N’s most stable form. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/45 "2007-06-29T07:17:09Z")
[QUOTE=Soul] A few years of lurking the SDMB, and this was the thread that finally made me register. They don’t teach you this stuff in school, I tell ya. [/QUOTE] **Soul** Welcome to the boards. You are 100% correct that you don’t learn stuff like this in school. Somebody go get the squid while I keep him busy talking. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/46 "2007-06-29T08:47:57Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] I never was in a tank, but in a “buttoned up” underground bunker, you can still smell the farts that were let out during the last drill! The air you got has to last until the door opens, because the back blast from a missile launch is exceptionally toxic. [/QUOTE] I was never in an underground bunker, but in a dormitory at boarding school, you can still smell the farts that were let out during the 19th century. The air you got has to last until the morning because the windows wouldn’t open due to warped wood. A back blast from a missile launch, however toxic, would have been like a breath of fresh air. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/47 "2007-06-29T11:11:40Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Somebody go get the squid while I keep him busy talking. [/QUOTE] You called? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/48 "2007-06-29T15:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Would a gas mask help? [/QUOTE] To carry on with this, when I did fire fighting and CBR training in the Navy I explained that the mask filters out particulates not the gas itself. A gas mask is not to be used in a smoke filled enviroment in lieu of a proper fire fighting rig. You will still die of smoke inhalation, however it will be nice clean filtered smoke. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/49 "2007-06-29T16:03:36Z")
So, when farting in a tank after a night of Mexican food, does one shout, “Fire in the hole!”? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/50 "2007-06-29T16:39:06Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] So, when farting in a tank after a night of Mexican food, does one shout, “Fire in the hole!”? [/QUOTE] No, you shout, “Away!” Tankers will get that one. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/51 "2007-06-29T17:34:01Z")
When I was in the Navy, you had to yell “Hot Spot” when you let one slide out. It was also know as Venting to Outboard. My Senior Chief would load up on cheap beer and chili dogs the night before a uniform inspection. His record for causing personnel to projectile vomit while standing at attention was 2.6. The 0.6 was from a guy that only had the dry heaves. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/52 "2007-06-29T21:23:34Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] So, when farting in a tank after a night of Mexican food, does one shout, “Fire in the hole!”? [/QUOTE] Mexican has nothing on dark, German beer. You can knock out half a company the next morning at P.T. after a few of those the night before. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/53 "2007-06-29T22:02:45Z")
A discussion on “most noxious farts” may be found [here](http://208.100.26.199/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8730977#post8730977). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/54 "2007-06-29T23:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis] But ask him about ‘venting Sans’ sometime… But not near mealtime! [/QUOTE] He says the term rings a bell, but he doesn’t remember what it means. It’s been a few years…can you refresh his memory? He was on a fast attack, if that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/55 "2007-06-30T00:42:12Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] No, you shout, “Away!” Tankers will get that one. [/QUOTE] Then, does everyone else say “No joy?” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/56 "2007-06-30T01:31:24Z")
That depends on if you misfire. ---
**Author:** ![Freezair\_SilverEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Freezair\_SilverEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freezair_SilverEye)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/57 "2007-06-30T07:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] I was never in an underground bunker, but in a dormitory at boarding school, you can still smell the farts that were let out during the 19th century. The air you got has to last until the morning because the windows wouldn’t open due to warped wood. A back blast from a missile launch, however toxic, would have been like a breath of fresh air. [/QUOTE] How toxic IS said backblast, anyway? What’s in it that makes it so noisome? I feel like I have to note that, while fresh urine does contain some ammonia, it’s urine that’s been left to steep in the sun that has the most pungent ammonia smell. The ammonia doesn’t appear in truly stench-worthy quanities until the chemicals in the urine (though I’m not especially sure what those chemicals are specifically) start to break down. I don’t know what it is about men and farts, but I can out-belch any man I know… Ladies can be just as gross when they want to be. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/58 "2007-06-30T08:49:46Z")
[QUOTE=Freezair SilverEye] How toxic IS said backblast, anyway? What’s in it that makes it so noisome? [/QUOTE] Well, I Am Not A Rocket Scientist, but believe that it’s full of combustion products from the very scary chemicals that rocket scientists gleefully mix together when they are told “we need some rocket fuel that is very very high-performance and stable. Don’t worry about how much it costs to make, or what the EPA might have to say”. A swift google for missile fuel turns up fun sentences like: > [@](#): > > Norbornadiene and 1,3-pentadiene are catalytically codimerized to an olefinic codimer using a three-component homogeneous catalytic system of cobaltic or cobaltous acetylacetonate, triphenylphosphine and an alkyl aluminum chloride. The codimer, after hydrogenation, has utility as a high energy missile fuel or a diluent for a higher viscous missile fuel > [@](#): > > Inhibited red fuming nitric acid is such an oxidizer and contains mostly nitric acid, nitrogen oxides, a small percentage of water, and an inhibitor (an additive which prevents the acid from eating through its metal storage tank). This inhibitor is a halogen substance, such as hydrogen fluoride or iodine. React chemicals like that at high temperatures and :eek you get [Phosphine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphine) , [Flourine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine) , all sorts of nasty organics, none of it good to breathe in. ---
**Author:** ![Freezair\_SilverEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Freezair\_SilverEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freezair_SilverEye)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/59 "2007-06-30T11:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=slaphead] Well, I Am Not A Rocket Scientist, but believe that it’s full of combustion products from the very scary chemicals that rocket scientists gleefully mix together when they are told “we need some rocket fuel that is very very high-performance and stable. Don’t worry about how much it costs to make, or what the EPA might have to say”. React chemicals like that at high temperatures and :eek you get [Phosphine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphine) , [Flourine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine) , all sorts of nasty organics, none of it good to breathe in. [/QUOTE] Woohoo, thanks! Very enlightening. (The first paragraph not so much, but the second one is clear as crystal.) You know, I don’t know if this is stupid of me or just an ordinary person extending their limited knowledge, but I always figured missles used the same fuel as space shuttles and the like, such as liquid oxygen. I don’t know if that would actually work in a missle or not. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676/60 "2007-06-30T15:16:15Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] What exactly happens when one of the tank crew cuts loose with a really bad one, say an overnight hardboiled egg and beer fart? If they’re simulating a combat situation, the rest of the crew couldn’t just open the hatch and jump out, could they? I guess they could open a vent but, in combat they’re likely to have worse gas outside. Maybe light a match? [/QUOTE] With all the combat gear any flatulence will be well filtered first. NO Matches! Might blow the turret off, leaving the crew exposed to open air and make them targets for ied practice rounds, Better “Grin and Bear It.” 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farting-in-a-tank/409676.md?page=4)